When a group of tourists signed up for their day-long safari ride, they were ecstatic to see the jungle dwellers right in front of their eyes. Safari rides give visitors the chance to see rare animals in their natural habitat. Big cats, monkeys, and even elephants showed up to surprise the onlookers, but one surprise was bigger than they ever imagined...
Botswana's Chobe National Park
Known for its impressive collection of elephants, Chobe Nation Park is located in the country of Botswana. It spans over 11,700 square miles and houses hundreds of elephants. Opened in 1968, this national park has become a must-see tourist destination for anyone visiting, as well as a hot spot for locals to see natural wonders up close and personal. Over 170,000 people visit every year, and this family didn't expect any different of an experience...
Safe Haven
Botswana's incredible work at the Chobe National Park has protected these majestic creatures for over 50 years, and the population is thriving. There are about 50,000 of these incredible beasts living in the park as of right now. While completely incredible, there was one incident that almost shut down the park entirely. Getting close to the action might sound good in theory, but as one family can attest, it's not all it's cracked up to be...
First Sighting
It was bright and early in January 2018 for one load of tourists who were on their way to watch wild animals in their natural habitat. The safari-goers packed into a small car and entered on to the park. They were hoping to see a few elephants, but they didn't even know what they were in for. When the mother elephant crossed their path, their whole day was bound to change...
Watching Over
When the truck of tourists was along the path that was preselected by the safari, they noticed flashes of gray in the trees. With a little bit of coaxing, the elephant revealed itself to its many onlooking fans, who cheered and applauded at the sight of the magnificent creature. They had no idea that these gleeful cries would change in just a short amount of time...
Triumphant Trumpet
The elephant, upon seeing the many incoming tourists, trumpeted its nose very loudly. The people clapped in approval, as this was pretty much what they had expected to see. If they had done their research beforehand though, they might have known that a trumpeting elephant is not something to be awed at, but something to be feared. This elephant was about to do something big...
Mother and Child
To their surprise, a moment later the mother brought someone else to the trail. Her young elephant baby was shuffled out in front of her while they crossed the tourists. The onlookers were amazed and awestruck by this beautiful display of wildlife parenting. Cameras flashed and the people shushed, but that was enough to make this mother take a second look their way...
An Insider Look
The Scientific Director of ElephantVoices, Joyce Poole, later saw the video footage of the encounter. According to her experience in the field, she believed that the mother elephant was actually something called the herd’s matriarch. That trumpeting she did earlier was not to show off her skills, but to alert other elephants that she felt her baby was under the threat of attack...
An Oncoming Attacker
You might be wondering, where was the authority figure during all of this? Shouldn't they be aware something is about to go wrong? Well, as a matter of fact, the tour guide did see something stirring that he didn't want to be a part of. He tried to carefully back up the car from the situation, but these safari tours are not always the safest endeavors. The elephant noticed their movement...
Charge Ahead
It was then that the beast decided to protect its young one by charging at the people in the car. With its large and brittle tusks, this was surely a dangerous move for everyone involved. The massive mammal picked up some serious speed and aggressively plummeted into the car. Everyone was shaken at the encounter, but the events did not stop there...
Tusk Troubles
Though very blurry, you can see the tusk of the mother in this shot of the video. Unfortunately, the tusk of the mother broke off during her attack on the tourists. While you might think that this would only be minor discomfort, this can actually have a very detrimental impact on the animal's wellbeing. Nothing about this attack ended well for the elephant or the people...
Tusk Troubles
In the end, though, everyone left a little unsettled but ultimately safe...except for maybe the elephant. While it's true that elephants break their tusks occasionally in the wild, there are some serious health concerns associated. For example, if the elephant's tusks break and the nerves are exposed, an infection could spread. This attack wasn't just on the people, but she was also putting herself and her child at risk by approaching...
Left Defenseless
When elephant tusks break, they have no way to protect themselves from the outside world. Finding food even becomes more difficult when a tusk is broken, leading to accidental issues in this capacity. Survive is viable, but an elephant without a tusk is in grave danger. Thankfully, the elephant caught in the video experienced a full recovery from the injury he experienced...
People Protected
Just like humans, elephants are actually pretty safe in their environment. They have no natural predators, and once you see one up close, you don't have to wonder why. These gentle giants wouldn't hurt a fly, but some people are not as kind as the creatures they target. Elephants are subject to poachers even today because of the monetary value of their tusks.
African Bush Features
The African Bush Elephant is a beautiful creature featuring short ivory tusks. Though impressive, these tusks are actually very brittle and subject to breakage by poachers. The lack of calcium in the soil contributes to their frail nature. Despite these issues, hunters still go after these animals for their ivory, which is very expensive on black markets.
Circus Elephants
You've probably heard of circus elephants before. Since 1865, circus elephants have been the norm in the field of wacky and clownish entertainment. Some of them can do tricks like balancing acts and throwing balls, while others are just awed at on account of their massive size. In one circus, however, elephants were handled a little differently than others...
Poaching Problems
African Bush Elephant hunting has been illegal for a very long time, since 1989 in fact. Despite this law against poaching, the elephant population has dropped by 62% in the last decade, putting the lives of these animals at risk. Over 100 elephants are killed every single day by poachers after their ivory. It makes sense that they wouldn't be so friendly...
Unworthy Risks
Right now, risky moves like these cannot be taken by tourists, guides, and the elephants they admire. Elephants might seem in surplus, but their rare tusks make them ideal targets and they die by the dozens every single day. The elephant community won't outlast these accidents. Parks like Chobe National Park help to keep these animals safe and in high supply...
Not Unbelieveable
Safari tours have remained remarkably popular. The Chobe National Park continues to provide visitors will a number of in-depth and inspiring tours of the grounds. Piling inside a 4x4 car, which is where this terrifying story took place, is still a popular way to spend time in Botswana. Maybe if those families knew the truth they wouldn't be so willing to take the risk...
Unbelievable
It might seem crazy that animals would turn on us, but an article from the National Geographic argues that this might not be the case. "I do think that elephants are becoming more aggressive towards humans in very compressed areas where they are being shot at and harassed," said an expert in the article. That might explain why one circus elephant seemed to have lost his marbles...
Circus Comes to Town
In the Danish oceanside town of Karrebaeksminde, the townspeople were ecstatic to hear that the circus would be coming to town for a show. How fun! People came from all over to watch the fun and magic unfold right before their very eyes, but before the whimsical performance could even start, one woman noticed something out of the corner of her eye. that's where things took a turn for the worst...
Brutal History
Things have not always been easy for these massive mammals, especially not in Botswana. In fact, back in the 19th century, Botswana had a pretty bloody history when it came to elephants. Incoming Europeans and locals engaged in poaching the animals in large numbers. Most of the country’s game had been slaughtered by 1890. Over the course of 80 years, the elephant population grew back to its original glory, but the threat of massacre never truly left...
Elephants On-Site
There are three types of elephants that visitors can spot on the National Park trails. These are the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and finally, the Asian elephant. Most commonly seen is the African bush elephant, especially so on the park grounds. They are sometimes referred to as Kalahari. You can recognize them because they are the largest breed of elephants in the entire world. These were the elephants the tourists saw that day...
Bathtime
She looked over while entering the tent to see the soon-to-be-performing elephants bathing in the nearby ocean. This is part of a tradition that the city holds for Cirkus Arena, and it was a big deal to catch a glimpse. Everything seemed to be going smoothly. It was only when the bathtime stopped and the show started that the elephants showed signs of discomfort...
Making Moves
The elephants were clearly enjoying their time in the sea, but time was ticking and the show was scheduled to start in just a few minutes. Knowing this, the trainers of the elephants began to round them up to get out of the water. The elephants, too happy outside the tent to even consider going back in, resisted the pulls of the workers. The employees were persistent...
Losing It
Eventually, the elephants reluctantly leave the water. However, they were definitely not happy about it. They were also spooked by the large crowd of onlookers that had gathered around them. In an act of self-defense, one elephant flipped over a car between the tent and the ocean. A tourist named Oddmar Nygard caught the entire encounter on video...
Getting Ansty
After that, people were completely unsure of what to do. They were surrounding the elephants and the elephants were surrounding them. It was bound to be pure chaos. The trainers were sent into a panic trying to calm down the massive animals. An old man on a motor scooter and a mother with a stroller were just a couple of the onlookers waiting for their fate...
Taking a Hit
One circus worker decided to take matters into his own hands. He grabbed a black cane and hit an elephant on the back, hoping it would stop trumpeting and calm down. However, this only agitated the elephant even more. "The elephant clearly got irritated after being hit," said one eyewitness. Hopefully, everyone would make it out alive from this encounter...
Car Damage
The car that the elephant flipped endured a lot of damage. The windows were all crushed. The owner of the vehicle tried to storm the scene but was held back from the wreckage. No one knew how much more damage this animal could do, and by the looks of it, he wasn't quite done yet. Things were far from over in his eyes, but how much longer could it go on?
Not For Long
With a little more coaxing from licensed trainers, the elephant eventually returned to its calm demeanor and even participated in the show later on that evening. However, viewers were shaken by the experience. The director of the circus later commented that "people should have kept their distance" during the freakout, but was happy everyone was safe. Except for one...
Circus Freaks
Animal rights activists in Denmark saw this as a chance to highlight the exploitation of elephants in the circus. "The incident Saturday in which a circus elephant went berserk in Karrebaeksminde shows that wild animals do not belong in the circus," said a Demark animal rights organization. Their name loosely translates to "Animal Protection" in English...